The fire which has consumed so many of Charles Saatchi's works of art may have left the traditionalists unmoved, but the odd thing is that in modern quarters the mood is not one of sadness either. In fact, it has been greeted ecstatically by some critics as an art happening of the highest order.

AN UNUSUAL (and unusually worthwhile) exhibition goes on display in Plymouth this week. Children of the Caucasus features paintings by a thousand children from the fomer conflict zones of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The project was created by the charity War Child, which distributed art materials and instruction to the children, hoping to give them a new channel through which to express their feelings. The children selected the pictures to be displayed themselves and these were taken into enemy territory and shown with a photograph of the artist underneath. The exhibition has been a rare source of reconciliation, say the organisers, and has especially touched adults.

Sunday

SUSPENDED HORSES, suicidal squirrels and board games for the bored are among the works at the Tate Gallery's "playful" and "magical" new exhibition, which opens this week.

While exploring the technical and stylistic development of photography in the sub-Saharan region, "Africa by Africa" poignantly documents some of the social history of that continent this century. As vintage prints evolve to colour, the attitude of the artists and subjects towards their work alters and the narrow focus on identification portraits widens to produce images of artistic and personal value. Santu Mofokeng and Zwelethu Mthethwa (including Untitled 1995-96, above) are among those who provide a social commentary as they explore themes of spirituality and comradeship in both rural and urban African communities.

A new long-lasting ink formula for use in inkjet printers is giving computer- generated art an entree to serious exhibitions and prices.

Shiny happy people will doubtless abound at tomorrow's launch of "Artsparkle: Midsummer Park Dreams", which brings a clutch of established artists into the East End until mid-July. The aim of the project is for the painters and sculptors to work with schools and community groups in the area to create five installations. These will form the centrepiece for workshops and art events, aimed at regenerating Mile End Park. Among those taking part is Kumiko Shimizu, who has had working associations with the East End for the past 20 years. Her sculpture installation, The Wild Life (right), inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, will be complemented by performance art, musicians, interactive video and the participation of pupils from local schools and the Uechi Ryu Karate Club. Others exhibiting include Maurice Agis, whose multi-coloured Dreamspace is also a sight to behold. The grand opening of all the installations takes place from 3pm tomorrow. You have been warned.

Sussex is the place for Surrealism. Andrew Lambirth visits two exhibitions featuring treasures taken from some extraordinary private collections

ART The Portrait of a Lady National Gallery of Scotland

The other night I was told something shocking. A bloke I know had been along to the Tower of London, a place which - as a Londoner - he hadn't visited for a quarter of a century. Most of it, he said, was much as he remembered. Except one thing. These days, if you go and see the Crown jewels, you do not walk round the glass cases looking for the Koh-i-Noor, or stand wondering how anyone could walk with one of those heavy crowns balanced precariously on her royal bonce. No, you are loaded on to a travelator - like those that carry you to the far-flung modules of large airports - and taken sedately, but inexorably, between the displays and out again. Not that he cared, he said, because he hadn't really wanted to see them in the first place. "Probably paste," he said, carelessly, adding that he had preferred the ravens.

Sir: The Prime Minister's boldness in giving the green light to the Greenwich Millennium site is to be respected and admired. The Great Exhibition and the Festival of Britain were much reviled before the event and equally admired in retrospect. The afterglow can only be enjoyed if the event actually takes place.

Sir: It seems that the commentaries accompanying R B Kitaj's paintings in his retrospective exhibition at the Tate Gallery in 1994 are still a matter of controversy ("Kitaj and the firing squad", 27 May).